Rutgers Law School Partners with Philadelphia Bar Foundation and Pepper Hamilton to Provide Trial Advocacy Training for Public Interest Attorneys

Earlier this week, from March 14 through March 16, Pepper Hamilton hosted 32 public interest lawyers for an intensive three-day trial skills training, led by Rutgers Law School’s Trial Advocacy Program Director and supported by the Philadelphia Bar Foundation. 

The training received by the public interest attorneys who provide access to justice for clients struggling with poverty, abuse, and discrimination, was the type of training available to the highest paid lawyers.  This training, however, was available to legal aid non-profit attorneys at no cost, thanks to the Philadelphia Bar Association, Rutgers Law School, and the R. Nicholas Gimbel Fund for Legal Excellence.

Called the Gimbel Fund Program, the training combined faculty lecture with simulation and critique and placed particular emphasis on developing and sharpening participants’ skills in the area of being a persuasive advocate.  Important topics covered included opening statements, closing arguments; direct and cross-examination (including expert witnesses, impeachment, and rehabilitation); and case analysis and preparation. The program took advantage of Pepper Hamilton’s state-of-the-art courtroom and conference room spaces to simulate the real courtroom experience for participants.

J.C. Lore, a Rutgers Law School clinical professor of law and director of trial advocacy, was one of 14 faculty members from across the country reinforcing and teaching core trials skills for the 32 public interest attorneys that attended. To teach in the Gimbel Fund Program, every faculty member leaves their practice for three days, many flying in from across the country.  With the support of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, Lore served as the program director.

“Quality training for public interest attorneys is essential and can lead to more just outcomes for all under the law and protect our region’s most vulnerable,” says Lore, who launched the Rutgers Center for Public Interest Training. “I was thrilled to have the opportunity to volunteer my time and receive the complete support of Rutgers Law School to run such an important program. These attorneys and the legal aid nonprofits where they are employed engage in some of our profession’s most important work.  It is essential that they be equipped with the training and skills to sustain this work at the highest level.  This type of training will reinvigorate one’s lawyering education long after law school.  At a time when budgets for state and public interest agencies are being drastically cut, we must find a way to continue to provide public interest lawyers with the training that they need and deserve.”

Amy B. Ginensky, Esq., a Bar Foundation Trustee and senior partner at Pepper Hamilton LLP, reflected that, “This is such a positive story of professors and experienced trial lawyers coming together to help train and support the public interest attorneys who fight every day to deliver equal justice to the most needy in our community.”

The R. Nicholas Gimbel Fund for Legal Excellence was created with contributions from friends, colleagues and family to honor Nick Gimbel’s memory and his passion for the law. Using the Gimbel Fund to support the Program is a practical reflection of his desire that all lawyers should have the opportunity to practice at the highest possible level and his deep commitment to pro bono legal services. Mr. Gimbel was a partner at the law firm of McCarter & English in Philadelphia and a graduate of Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School. Jessica R. Hilburn-Holmes, Esq., Executive Director of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, said, “We are honored that Mr. Gimbel’s family, friends and colleagues have entrusted the Fund to the Foundation’s care, and we are proud to offer this training to public interest legal services attorneys who serve in the vanguard of efforts to provide equal access to justice.”

Lore added that, “the Philadelphia region has one of the most vibrant and committed public interest communities in the country.  It isn’t just the attorneys practicing, but it is also the way the entire legal community gets behind the lawyers doing this essential work.  The many partners and supporters of this program are one of the finest examples of this commitment and it makes you proud to be a part of such a special community.”